Woodline Partners LP Buys New Stake in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 28,994 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,518,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacific Point Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Caterpillar in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $579,000. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Caterpillar by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,979 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in Caterpillar by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 2,123 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in shares of Caterpillar by 334.8% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Caterpillar by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 10,895 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,952,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 70.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Caterpillar

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $320.70 per share, with a total value of $120,262.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,653 shares in the company, valued at $2,133,617.10. The trade was a 5.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Caterpillar Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of CAT stock opened at $345.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $162.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.35. Caterpillar Inc. has a 12-month low of $267.30 and a 12-month high of $418.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $318.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.24.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $14.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. Caterpillar had a net margin of 16.65% and a return on equity of 58.18%. The business’s revenue was down 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.60 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Caterpillar Inc. will post 19.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caterpillar Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 21st were issued a dividend of $1.41 per share. This represents a $5.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 21st. Caterpillar’s payout ratio is presently 27.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CAT. UBS Group upgraded Caterpillar from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $272.00 to $357.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Caterpillar from $452.00 to $414.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Caterpillar from $490.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $396.00 price target (up previously from $389.00) on shares of Caterpillar in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Caterpillar from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $375.33.

Caterpillar Profile

Caterpillar Inc manufactures and sells construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives in worldwide. Its Construction Industries segment offers asphalt pavers, compactors, road reclaimers, forestry machines, cold planers, material handlers, track-type tractors, excavators, telehandlers, motor graders, and pipelayers; compact track, wheel, track-type, backhoe, and skid steer loaders; and related parts and tools.